Reworked: Louisiana will rework how it spends the money it allocates to defending the poor, to ensure two-thirds of it flows to local indigent defenders, under a new law signed today by Gov. John Bel Edwards. The Associated Press reports the bill by Rep. Sherman Mack, R-Albany, requires the Louisiana Public Defender Board to dedicate at least 65% of its annual financing to local public defender offices, which have been struggling with financial shortfalls. The measure was among a package of bill signings released Monday evening by the governor. Edwards also signed a bill that bans hotels, convention centers and trade shows from blocking personal access to mobile phone hotspots. Violators will face a fine up to $10,000 for each offense.
Filling in: In the heyday of oil exploration on Louisiana’s coast after World War II, companies dug about 10,000 miles of canals as straight as Kansas highways through a natural world that’s unraveling today—due, in part, to those canals. The Associated Press reports that about 16.5 miles of canals in the Barataria Preserve are to be filled soon—making a small dent in a massive problem. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell on Monday toured canals in the preserve by airboat. She called the work crucial. The National Park Service is using $8.7 million from civil penalties drawn from the catastrophic BP Gulf of Mexico oil spill in 2010 to do the work. Long ago, oil companies abandoned the canals and spoil banks, which have interfered with hydrology and funneled salt water inland ever since.
Breaking tradition: Apple plans to break with its recent pattern of overhauling the design of its flagship iPhone every two years, and instead make only subtle changes to the models it will release this fall, The Wall Street Journal reports. Sources close to the tech giant tell the publication that Apple’s newest phones will maintain the current 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch displays. Those are the sizes of the larger-display models Apple introduced in 2014 and refreshed with newer models last fall. The biggest planned change in this year’s phones is the removal of the headphone plug, which will make the phone thinner and improve its water resistance. Read the full story.
